Procrastination can be something than can be really hard to overcome. Especially if it is something you have been doing for most of your life because it is now a habit. Those pathways in your brain are a lot more efficient and it is your go to strategy to deal with difficult tasks. Sometimes we choose the short-term benefit over the long-term goal. However the long-term goal doesn’t go away and now the situation is more dire. As my dad always said, “Poor planning on your part does not make it an emergency on my part”. So here are some techniques that can help you overcome procrastination.

Sometimes the hardest part is getting started. So take a task you’ve been putting off and just work on it for 5 minutes. When you finish the first five minutes set a goal of another five minutes and so on. It helps it feel less overwhelming.

Identify the most difficult part of the task and do that first. That was it is all downhill from there!

Use positive reinforcement. Reward yourself with something nice whenever you complete a difficult task. I like to choose chocolate!

Make changes in your surroundings to reduce distractions, gain privacy, and have all needed tools and items close at hand. Being organized helps!